Land South of Brimpton Lane and West of Blacknest Lane, Brimpton Common, Reading, RG7 4RS

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

• Whether the appeal site is a suitable location for the proposed development, including whether occupants would have adequate access to facilities and services, having regard to local and national policies
• The effect of the proposal on the character and appearance of the area
• Whether the proposal would ensure public safety, having regard to the Atomic Weapons Establishment site at Aldermaston (AWE A)
• The proposal's effect on ecology, including biodiversity net gain
• The proposal's effect on green infrastructure
• The proposal's effect on the Grade II listed building at Lane End Cottage and the Scheduled Monument of Bell Barrow
• Whether there are material considerations which exist that outweigh any conflicts with the Development Plan and any other identified harm resulting from the appeal proposal: (a) need and supply, (b) alternatives, (c) personal circumstances, (d) intentional unauthorised development, (e) precedent, (f) anything else

What decided it

The cumulative and mutually reinforcing harms - particularly the substantial public safety harm near AWE Aldermaston combined with unsuitable location, character/appearance harm, and precedent/intentional unauthorised development - outweighed the benefits of pitch provision and the family's personal circumstances.

The identified harms (unsuitable location, significant harm to character and appearance, substantial harm to public safety, and significant harm to ecology and green infrastructure), reinforced by the negative weight of precedent and intentional unauthorised development, were found to outweigh the moderate benefit of pitch provision and the significant weight attached to personal circumstances and the children's best interests, both on a permanent and temporary basis.